FJ Cruisers of Northern California

Found your dream bumper!!!

I just did a tour of a metal fab shop in Virginia. They are in R&D phase for their 4x4 fab department. I took my FJ in and let them disassemble anything they wanted to. I convinced them to use the Toyota FJ as their first production platform. They already finished R&D on the Jeep TJ. The best part is, is that the TJ community had significant input on the products. Now they want me to reach out to the FJ community. First things first... the FJ front bumper. Heres what they want to know: Type of material (aluminum or steel variety), Features (fog lights, winch, integrated skid plate, etc.), Weight, Styles (tube or sheet), and fair price point (how much would you like to pay for this bumper). They are also considering personalized laser cut logos, pictures, and text for the first 100 orders. My test bumper is going to be 1/4 inch aluminum plate (bent and tig welded), reinforced skeleton, three highlift jack points, 2.5 inch hitch receiver for removable winch, and integrated skid plate (steel). I will add the solidworks pic ASAP. Their lead designer drew up the first and second phase 3D image in like 10 min. Best of all... it will weigh 27-29 lbs.!!! The designer said that all the bends and welds are set so the bumper can take maximum impact. So let the input roll! We are getting first crack at it because I was a member here first. The blue room will be next.

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2011-07-04 10.40.09.jpg, 480 KB

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Permalink Reply by Grif on July 8, 2011 at 5:34pm

Thats pretty nice. Is the winch mount going up on top of behind the FJ emblem?

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Permalink Reply by KGrit on July 11, 2011 at 9:44am

The winch bumper is still being designed. The ideas on the table are: Standard pocket bumper with the winch behind the bumper with the fairlead mounted in the bottom panel under the FJ symbol, or a 2.5 inch hitch type receiver that can be used for a bar type rescue or a removable hitch. The advantage of the latter one is that during your daily commute the winch stays in the garage, or when your wheeling you can leave it in the back until needed... saves weight for the daily drivers and possible damage to an expensive winch if you hit something at higher speeds. They are considering offering both.

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Permalink Reply by Maximus (Max) on July 10, 2011 at 10:04pm

that does look pretty nice. ive been looking around for a new bumper that wouldnt be too expensive and fairly lightweight because i dont want to order the OME heavy lift

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Permalink Reply by KGrit on July 11, 2011 at 9:46am

Bingo! Thats what we are trying to do. Save money and weight without compromising quality. R&D is going well I should have the example bumper pics soon.

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Permalink Reply by NestahEdition on July 11, 2011 at 1:42am

Very nice and i'm interested because of the weight.

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Permalink Reply by KGrit on July 11, 2011 at 9:50am

Its quarter inch thick aluminum too, so it can take a beating. Oh, I just found out that there will be a bunch of colors for powder coat available. I can't release the name of the offroad division yet, but its awesome and the logo is going to be amazing. Once the trade mark is set I will post it here. They told me that Taco's and 4runners are next in line.

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Permalink Reply by KGrit on July 11, 2011 at 9:54am

I'm waiting on the approx. weight of the steel bumper. I'm guessing around 90 lbs +/- 10 lbs. they are messing with weight reduction right now, but they will not sacrifice structural integrity, so we'll see what they come up with.